Two parties, too much

I thought I might have been a little crazy when I decided to have Henry and Milly's separate birthday parties held at the same time, day and at our house. Having Michael and my mum there to help was invaluable and my next door neighbour pitched in as well. If it weren't for them the parties could have been a disaster. As it turned out, the day was a bit stressful for me but a success for the kids. Trying to divide my time equally between the parties and keep them running was a challenge. I won't be doing it again.

Henry had seven of his school chums attend and we had organised a Star Wars Jedi Training Camp party. Complete with themed food and training course games to keep the boys active and having fun.

For Milly, she had four friends over for a fairy party. She had fairy themed food, with art and craft activities to amuse the girls.

Duelling lightsabers.

Milly and her fairy friends.


The birthday fairy.

Once all the guests had arrived each party had its own pre-party food before the activities commenced. It was strawberry milkshakes and fairy cupcakes for the girls.

The Jedi party had Yoda Sodas and Star Wars themed cupcakes. The Yoda Sodas were lime spiders with a lightsaber (aka glow stick) in the cup. These were a real hit with the boys.

Then it was on to the party games. The fairies were busy making their own fairy crowns and wands. Lots of glitter and sparkly things to glue on them. It kept them busy.

The boys had four games they needed to complete to become a Jedi. The first was an obstacle course we set up in the backyard that included doing the Wookie walk (aka using stilts), climbing ladders, riding scooters, using a lightsaber to fight of Jabba the Hutt's burps (aka a bubble machine) and more. The second game we called Using the Force, where we attached a hula hoop to the washing line and the boys had to throw a frisbee and Vortex ball through the hoop. For the third game Michael printed off pictures of Darth Vadar, Darth Maul, and Boba Fett and the boys had to use a Star Wars gun to practice some target shooting. The final game was Destroying the Deathstar. We couldn't find a Star Wars pinata, so bought a soccer ball one and spray painted it silver. The boys loved having a crack at smashing it down with a lightsaber.

The Deathstar destroyed and the spoils shared.

After the games it was time for the birthday cakes. Milly almost had a meltdown when her fairy friends blew out her candles for her, but a quick relight of the candles and she was happy again. I haven't posted any pictures of the birthday cakes because frankly they are the worst effort I've ever made. Making two elaborate cakes this year was too big an ask. Milly's cake was a simple pink and vanilla marble cake with pink icing and edible fairies placed on top, sitting around the letter M formed out of those silver edible balls. Henry's cake was cut into the shape of the number 6 and I placed some Star Wars figurines on top.

When all the formalities were over the world of the Jedis and fairies collided, and I'm pleased to say they played together harmoniously.

When the day was over and the kids asleep in bed, I had set aside a favourite bottle of red wine to enjoy with Michael. Only thing was I was too tired and all I really wanted was a cup of peppermint tea. So the bottle of red was put away and we took it out a few days later and enjoyed it.

Another year done and dusted.